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Week 17 Preview

Week 17 Preview

Dan Hough31 Aug 2019 - 04:46
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All eyes on the twos in their promotion charge

We could win the league or we could miss out on promotion completely. It's still all to play for!
- Eugene Berger

With Week 17 now upon us we are well and truly in the homeward straight. Four of the Twickenham sides have nothing but cricketing pride left to play for. The twos, meanwhile, are right in the middle of a promotion battle.

Ones welcome Richmond
The ones go in to their local derby with Richmond 18 points ahead of 9th placed Finchley. On the face of it the Ts aren’t mathematically safe but given that Stanmore play both Finchley (Week 17) and then Richmond (Week 18) it would have to take an extremely odd set of results to see them playing Division Two cricket next year (see here for the table).

Carlos Nunes’s side will nonetheless looking to seal the deal sooner rather than later. Indeed, a win against the Old Deer Park outfit and Richmond could well find themselves facing a real do or die clash in Week 18.

Nunes goes in to the encounter with a strong side. Valentin Giraud returns after a few weeks away while last week’s batting heroes, George Yates and Mesome Hussain, will no doubt be hoping that they aren’t required to pull the side quite out of the fire in the way that they did last week.

The 1st XI is Carlos Nunes, Rhys Davies, Valentin Giraud, Mesome Hussain, Ben Leale-Green, Don Manuwelge, Scott Newman, Gurjit Sandhu, Abhi Singh, Ishi Singh Sohi and George Yates.

Seconds travel to Hornsey
Eugene Berger’s second XI travel to fourth placed Hornsey. In one way, the equation for the Ts is a simple one; win and they are up (see here for the table). The reason for that is that they currently lie 11 points ahead of third placed Indian Gym.

Indian Gym play the almost relegated Southgate whilst Stanmore – currently top of the pile – travel to already relegated Kenton. In short, just win and forget about everyone else.

The cause is no doubt going to be helped by having a strong side to go with. Tom Field returns from a week’s enforced absence, whilst Phil Nash also returns to the fray. A plethora of talented all-rounders (Harry Grinstead, Nakul Vishvanath, Lewis Mitchard, Pushy Arsikere and of course Berger himself) also helps. Is there a case for adding Dom Thamby to that list? To be discussed over the long winter months …

The 2nd XI is Eugene Berger, Pushtak Asikere, Tom Field, Harry Grinstead, Lewis Mitchard, Phil Nash, Nikhil Nomula, Sanjit Sandhu, Dom Thamby, Nakul Vishvanath and Ethan Wright.

Thirds welcome Finchley
The 3s welcome Finchley to St Mary’s. Over the years Steve Watts’s side have been involved in some lively encounters with the North Londoners, and the knowledge that a win will confine Finchley to life in Division Three will not be lost on them (see here for the table).

Watts, in his last league game of 2019, has a strong side to come from. Both Mo Ahmad and Ajmal Allahdad have made contributions to higher XIs this year yet they will be in the threes on Saturday. Steve Cowley and Connor Finney also have recent second XI experience, as does Brandon Newman. The threes have plenty of reason to go in to their last home game of the season in buoyant mood.

The 3rd XI is Steve Watts, Anu Agarwal, Mo Ahmad, Ajmal Allahdad, Robbie Bosier, Steve Cowley, Connor Finney, Oli George, Fahrier Hassan, Brandon Newman and Ozzie Qavi.

Top v Bottom as 4s travel to MTSSC
No matter what happens in the last two weeks of the season, the fourth XI will end the campaign as Division 5A champions (see here). A fantastic achievement.

They won’t, however, want to let their unbeaten record slip now. 16 games, 16 positive results. Can they go the whole season without being on the wrong end of a scoreline?

The 4s’ last away game takes them to the Post Office Ground in Harrow to play MTSSC. The Tamils have had a dreadful campaign, picking up just three points thus far. They have long since been condemned to relegation (see here). The 4ths can’t, surely, losing their unbeaten record there … can they?

The 4ths are, as expected, strong. Colin Blunden may have celebrated his 89th birthday this week, but he’ll be there opening the batting, whilst Hayden Tyler offers a bit of gusto alongside him. Nihal Tomar will still be smarting from a first baller last week; watch for a reaction from the not out king today.

The 4th XI is Hinay Dassani, Nisar Abidi, Stuart Amos, Colin Blunden, Hiran Dissanayke, Dave Jones, Uzzi Khan, Nihal Tomar, Hayden Tyler, Chetan Ubale and Alex Waddell.

Fifths welcome Kensington and Chelsea
The 5ths can finish no lower than 7th this season (see here). A decent effort given how hard it is to regularly get consistent sides out at this level. With a fair wind they could end as high as 5th, but a visit from top of the table Kensington and Chelsea won’t make achieving that aim easy.

K & C are in a real promotion dogfight with three sides separated by just one point. They’ll no doubt be gunning from victory at Broom Road to fend off both Chiswick and HSM.

After a bit of a merry-go-round week in week 16 the 5s has a much more familiar look to it now. Andy Donelan and Jonty Hunt return to open the batting, and given their impressive record this season that has to be a good thing. Anil Bhatt is also in the side, whilst the evergreen Brian Thorne is also turning out. With Thorne, Phil Walker and Gil Sanchez in the side the 5ths are absolutely not lacking in experience.

The 5th XI is Chris Wylde, Anil Bhatt, Jon Bosier, Andy Donelan, Jonty Hunt, Waris Khan, Paul McLoughlin, Gil Sanchez, Harmeet Singh, Brian Thorne and Phil Walker

Go well everyone!

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